Piece by Piece
by fashiondynomite31
Summary: He tried so desperately to hold her together. But some things are meant to get worse before they get better. Lucaya one shot. First GMW story.


Piece by piece, she broke apart.

Piece by piece, he put her back together.

* * *

It started with her smile. He saw it one day, her melodious laugh filling Mr. Matthews' classroom. Her beautiful dimples showing after her comment about how "cowboy" he was. And then, it slowly left. The jokes he cracked didn't make her laugh, their banters slowing to a halt. He didn't see her face anymore in history, only the gorgeous blond curls on the back of her head. The smile perched upon her face when she was chosen for his softball team in gym wasn't there.

Riley didn't notice. She didn't notice the loss of the smile on her best friends face, or the absence of her sarcasm. But he did. Even if it wasn't his job.

It was sort of ironic, really. He had just started to get close to her, to spend more time with her. He learned things about her from his nightly visits to her window.

_Lucas looked inside the foggy window, seeing his favorite blond city girl curled up on her bed, staring at the wall in front of her. He lightly tapped on the window, capturing her attention. _

_Throwing a pillow at the window, she groaned, "Go away, Ranger Rick."_

_He watched her face crinkle as he persisted, knocking at her window until se dragged herself over._

_A cold burst of air entered the girl's room, making her slim body shiver. Lucas climbed inside, and sat on the rug, leaning against the wall. _

_They sat in silence for a few moments, just staring into space. Lucas was contemplating on asking her what was wrong or telling her his problem. Just as he was about to say something, she cut him off._

"_I don't know why you came here," her voice pierced the tension in the silent room._

_Lucas ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "Well, you completely ignored us today in school. You practically ran out the doors as soon as the last bell rang."_

"_So?" she said, shrugging the question off. "It's not like I actually like school. I just wanted to get out of there."_

_He scoffed. "Out of there my ass, Maya. I'm not stupid and neither are your friends. Why do you think you have 15 unopened texts and 11 voicemails from Riley and Farkle?"_

_Maya was silent, a pout forming on her face. Lucas started to stand up, reaching towards the window saying, "Look, I didn't come here for you to just igno-"_

"_I know you guys aren't stupid," she said, cutting him off. "I just…needed to be alone."_

_Lucas's face fell, genuinely concerned for his best friend. "What happened?"_

_He almost didn't catch her answer that she barely whispered. "My grandma died."_

_Lucas had no idea what to say, so he just did what he would do for anyone. "Oh my god, Maya. I had no clue, do you want to talk?" He walked toward her and sat next to her on her comforter, placing a hand on her shoulder._

_He should have known that Maya was not just anyone, for in the next moment she shrugged his hand off, turning away. "I just want to be alone. I don't want someone to tell me it's gonna be okay because it isn't. It's not okay that she's gone, that she left me." Lucas saw the tears forming on her eyelashes and pulled her into his chest, right in the middle of her rant._

_This time, she didn't pull away, she just continued as tears fell down her cheeks. "I don't know what to do anymore, Lucas. My world is just falling apart."_

_He whispered soothing thoughts into her hair, visibly calming her down. She pulled away from him and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She sniffled one last time before talking._

"_Okay, so you have something on your mind. Spill. Now," she told him. He was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, but not too surprised to see that Maya was putting up her barriers again. He knew that she trusted hum now, and that was enough. He didn't push to see if she still wanted to talk, knowing that she'd just shut him out even more. _

_Lucas fiddled with his hands, not exactly sure what to say. He knew Maya was good at reading people and he wasn't sure if she would figure out the meaning behind his next words. _

"_Well, there's this girl…" Lucas started, watching a smirk form on Maya's face. "And before you say anything, no, I'm sorry, it's not Riley." Maya immediately shut her mouth, her lips pursing to a line._

"_You see, I met her at the beginning of the year. She's beautiful and strong and funny and sarcastic. I don't know what to do about it! I don't know if she likes me back because she always sends me mixed signals. What should I do?" he asked her. He could see the gears shifting in her mind. Part of him was praying that she would never find out it was her, and the other part praying that she would._

_She looked at him straight in his hazel green eyes, sternly saying, "I think you should go for it. Even if she doesn't like you back, which by the way who wouldn't, at least you get your feelings out there."_

_Lucas stared at her in shock, her words replaying in his head, _by the way who wouldn't_._

_She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing what she just said. Maya struggled to form words. "I didn't…I meant…I..uh..I."_

_She was captured by his mesmerizing eyes, as he was to her ocean blue orbs. Their faces slowly inched closer and closer together. He couldn't pull away. Time seemed to slow to a stop; the only thing that mattered was them. Their breaths seemed to combine into one. Their lips were barely brushing._

_She abruptly turned away. "I have to go. You know, to sleep. Early day tomorrow," she awkwardly laughed._

_Lucas scratched the back of his neck, getting up from her bed, rushing towards the window. _Shit_, he thought. _

"_I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, placing one foot onto the fire escape._

_She nodded, awkwardly smiling. _

"_Oh and Maya?" he asked, just sticking his head in the window._

"_Yes?" she responded._

_Lucas smiled, "Thanks for telling me about your grandma. I'm happy you know that you can trust me."_

_He ducked out from under the window as she waved goodbye. _

That was 3 months ago.

And now, she was shutting him out.

One time, they were near her locker. She was getting out her books, her cotton candy machine dusty in the back. He cornered her, putting his arms against the lockers on either side of her. Their significant height difference made him have to look down at her.

"What do you want?" she snarled at him, making him jump at her surprisingly nasty tone. He noticed the smile not only left her face, but her eyes. They didn't have the same twinkle as usual.

"What's wrong?" he asked sternly. She was about to respond, but he cut in, "And don't you dare tell me that it's nothing. I know you, Maya hart, like the back of my own hand. Something is wrong, even if Riley doesn't notice. I do. Now I will ask you again. What is wrong?"

The pair was attracting whispers from the surrounding people, and their position wasn't exactly non-suggestive. Maya pushed him off, shrugging her shoulders and walking away.

"Maya!" he yelled, watching her hips swaying in the distance. "You can't just walk away from this, god dammit!"

She stopped and turned around, "Then how come I just did?"

Those were the last words she said to him for the rest of the week.

It was fine, sort of. She ignored his pleading, he kept trying. Almost like a new game for them, except he was the only player.

Then, it completely fell apart.

She wasn't in class all day. Her golden locks that he loved oh so much weren't bouncing in front of him. Riley had said that she called saying she was sick, and didn't seem worried. He knew she was lying that she was finally breaking apart, after he tried so hard to hold her together.

He found her in Janitor Harley's closet (she obviously somehow snuck into school, he knew this was her safe spot) crawled up in a ball, he cheeks stained with recent tears. He hated seeing her so vulnerable, so broken. The strong façade she always carried was long gone.

She noticed his presence and quickly wiped away any evidence that she had been crying. "What?" she sniffled. He did nothing except slide down the wall to the floor space net to her, and pulled her into his chest.

"It's going to be okay, Maya," he whispered to her, his hands already tangled in her curly hair. "I'm here now. I'll always be here.

Those were the only words she needed to hear before she sobbed into his chest, her tears flowing faster than a river. He felt her shaking, clinging onto his body like it was her last grip on reality. The only things he wished were to know why she was so upset, who had done this to her, and how he was going to fix it.

Once her sobbing calmed, and she was able to look up at him, he slowly asked her the one question he knew she was dreading.

"Maya," he said so softly, "What's wrong? I promise you that I won't judge and I won't tell anyone. You already know that you can trust me."

She sighed, finding no escape route and knowing what he said was true. "It hurts so much, Lucas. Acting so strong and no one realizing that you really aren't okay. No one noticing that you just need someone. I have no one at home. My mom ran away with some rich guy she met in some bar. She promised to send me back money to pay rent, to buy food and clothes. She said that she was holding be back. That I didn't need her anymore because I was too good for her. I completely lost her. She's physically gone now. I really don't have anyone. At all."

His face was shocked, upset, angry, and disappointed at the same time. "You don't realize this Maya," he started, hoping his words would help her. "You have so many people in your life who care about you. We will all help you get through this. Even when your mom is not there, we are. Riley, Mr. Matthews, Topanga, Farkle. And me. You will always have me, no matter what. Even when Riley and her family and your friends aren't there, I will be. I can't tell you that I'll always be able to fix everything, but I will try my best. You can count on me."

She didn't respond at first, taking in all that he told her. For once in her life, she realized that someone cared. Someone understood her, better than her best friend did.

"Thank you, cowboy," she answered, smiling for the first time in months.

All was well.

* * *

Piece by piece she broke apart.

Piece by piece, he put her back together.


End file.
